Stellify
by Literaryluminations
Summary: Elphie, when you die, I'm going to stellify you!" Galinda said. Years later, she comes back on that promise. Bookverse.


**A/N: You might want to read this story twice. You see, it's not in chronological order. So the story jumps around. **

**This might also help: **

**Stella means "Star" in Latin.**

**The word Stellify means "transform a person or thing into a star or constellation". The Greek root Facio/Factum is included there too, meaning "make". **

**-English Through The Roots Up", p. 64, by Joégil K. Lundquist.**

**Also, so many thanks to the amazingly wonderful TheWitch'sCat, who did a beautiful job betaing this. She's the one who made it legible, people! THANK YOU!!**

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6

"And that one, there, is Orion the Hunter" Liir said, pointing at the wintertime constellation. His young daughter nodded solemnly.

"And what's that one?" She tugged on her father's shirttail.

"That's Ursa Major, a big bear. She's there with her son, Ursa Minor." Liir pointed to both of the great bears. His daughter opened her mouth, reaching up an emerald hand towards the heavens.

"And that one?" She prompted, pointing to one on the western horizon.

"The Witch." Liir's voice was monotonous, flat.

"Why is it called The Witch?"

"I don't know."

"And she's grandmother?" The girl's voice went higher than usual, clearly excited.

"Yes."

1

"Elphie, when you die, I'm going to stellify you!" Galinda said, looking up from her pink fluffy bed. She had been flipping through one of Elphaba's sorcery books, and had happened across an interesting constellation-creating spell.

"You are? And how would one propose to do that? Are the stars not fixed where they lay, until they supernova?" Elphaba raised a pointed eyebrow.

"Er…" Galinda trailed off, unsure of how to respond. After a moment she returned to reading, hoping her friend would forget.

7

_The stars don't change too much, no matter how much _I_ change, _The young girl thought. She was sitting up in the old apple tree, gazing up at the stars.

Sometimes living a solitary life, with just her father and their animals, could be frustrating. What she would give to have another woman around, one that she could talk to. One that would talk back, telling her everything was alright. Telling her she was _normal. _She so desperately wanted a woman to connect with, a woman to show the star shaped stain to, a woman to help her wash her sheets out. Her father did what he could, but he was her _father. _She had been so embarrassed (not to mention horrified!) when she had to ask her father to help her wash the blood stains from her clothing and sheets. Wasn't it was supposed to be a job for just mothers and daughters?

The new woman sighed and shifted her weight, being careful not to fall out of the tree. She sighed again and gazed at The Witch, finding comfort in its greenish glow.

"Grandmother?" She whispered. She knew it was irrational, talking to a constellation, but she wanted to tell _someone._ She smiled, dreaming of a warm, motherly figure to talk to. Then she snapped out of it, remembering her father's stories of his "Auntie Witch". He said she was not a comforting figure, nor a motherly one. The girl sighed once more, reaching her emerald hand to pluck an apple from the tree.

2

"Oh Elphie," Glinda sobbed. She had just gotten word that her friend, her best friend, had died. She collapsed in a frilly heap on the floor, sobbing in anguish and sorrow.

What should she do? Something, that was certain. Glinda sniffed and daintily rubbed her nose, shakily standing. She walked down the hall of her palace, down to the library. She crossed over to the shelves where her spell-books lay.

Glinda ran her fingers over the multi-hued books, searching until she found the one she wanted. She picked it up, letting the memories flow through her.

8

The two companions lay huddled under a ragged blanket together, under the open skies. The first, a slight young man, was gazing up at the stars. He took some small comfort in the familiar stars of his childhood, but he was confused about one constellation that seemed to appear from nowhere. It sat almost exactly where the golden sun had set almost an hour before, shimmering with a strange greenish glow. They weren't so far north they could see the Aurora, where they?

He turned to look at his companion, a silky haired young woman.

"What do you think that constellation is?" He asked, pointing toward the aforementioned constellation.

"The Witch, my grandmother." The girl answered.

3

Glinda sobbed as she opened the book. It was the book she had been looking at, all those years ago. When Elpha- no. She couldn't think like that.

Glinda sighed as she dropped the book noisily on one of the ornately carved wooden desks. She quickly leafed through the book, coming across the dog-eared page she needed.

"Stellifying Spell," She read, "Creates a new constellation, transforming a person or thing into a group of stars."

Glinda sighed again, lost in her own world. Soon, the great palace clock rang. Glinda was jerked from her thoughts, and she leaned over the book again. She began to chant,

"Astron de Stella-"She glanced down at the book again, took a deep breath, and resumed her chanting.

5

A new constellation was born that night, right where the sun settled into the ground each evening. The Ozians, from the strictest religious figure to the most superstitious wanderer, unanimously decided to call it "The Witch".

It was a fitting name, with a large collection of stars forming a loose triangle, making a sketchy interpretation of a long dress and cape. From what would be the neck there were three bright stars, making another triangle, almost like a face with a pointed chin. On her "head" there was a collection of stars, with a long line on the bottom, and a few stars going up on either side in a diagonal, creating the Witch's famous hat.

The constellation was also bathed in a greenish glow every dawn and dusk, lighting the way for anyone heading toward the West.

4

"I did it Elphie, I did it." Glinda sank gratefully into her chair, exhausted from casting such a powerful and important spell.


End file.
